Spa/pool treadmill

[G95champ]

Has anyone used a treadmill in a spa or swimming pool?

I was looking at adding one to our dojo, I think it would be very benifical to my seniors who take the class for exercise. Likewise for me after class. Lol

Any thoughts on how well they work?

[JR 137]

I’ve used underwater treadmills in the rehab setting. They’re great for rehabbing injuries. Stuff like post-operative knee rehab mainly. My time with them wasn’t extensive by any means.

Unless you and your students have some kind of serious issues with impact and really, really love running, I don’t think it’s the best piece of pure exercise equipment out there. I’ll ask an old boss of mine his opinion. Then again no one asked to go running on it for fun. Factor in costs, and I don’t see it as a beneficial thing.

Some PT places have them. Perhaps ask to use one for a fee? It’s a huge investment.

If you want no impact running, an elliptical machine should work out (no pun intended) and save you a lot of money and space, even if you get a commercial grade one.

[OneKickWonder]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the point of an underwater treadmill?

I can see the point of a conventional one. Although I'm not a fan. I can see that they can isolate the mechanics of walking and running from all other external factors.

But in a pool? The human body is already close to weightless in water. And the water will exclude most external factors while allowing a greater range of movement options than a treadmill.

In fact our local gym, like very many, runs all sorts of classes in the pool. Often aimed at those with mobility issues, they do aqua aerobics and all sorts in an environment where joint stress is kept to a minimum.

[JR 137]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the point of an underwater treadmill?

I can see the point of a conventional one. Although I'm not a fan. I can see that they can isolate the mechanics of walking and running from all other external factors.

But in a pool? The human body is already close to weightless in water. And the water will exclude most external factors while allowing a greater range of movement options than a treadmill.

In fact our local gym, like very many, runs all sorts of classes in the pool. Often aimed at those with mobility issues, they do aqua aerobics and all sorts in an environment where joint stress is kept to a minimum.

You get extra resistance in the water. Your arms and legs have to push the water out of the way vs the air.

They’re quite useful in the rehab setting. Take someone with ACL reconstruction; they’ll be able to run on an underwater treadmill before they’ll be able to run normally because the bouyancy in water counters the pull of gravity, thereby significantly reducing the impact on the knee. Same for a lot of injuries.

For general working out without an injury that benefits from it, I have no idea why.

Edit: I guess it would be cooler than running outside in the summer.

[OneKickWonder]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the point of an underwater treadmill?

I can see the point of a conventional one. Although I'm not a fan. I can see that they can isolate the mechanics of walking and running from all other external factors.

But in a pool? The human body is already close to weightless in water. And the water will exclude most external factors while allowing a greater range of movement options than a treadmill.

In fact our local gym, like very many, runs all sorts of classes in the pool. Often aimed at those with mobility issues, they do aqua aerobics and all sorts in an environment where joint stress is kept to a minimum.

You get extra resistance in the water. Your arms and legs have to push the water out of the way vs the air.

They’re quite useful in the rehab setting. Take someone with ACL reconstruction; they’ll be able to run on an underwater treadmill before they’ll be able to run normally because the bouyancy in water counters the pull of gravity, thereby significantly reducing the impact on the knee. Same for a lot of injuries.

For general working out without an injury that benefits from it, I have no idea why.

Edit: I guess it would be cooler than running outside in the summer.

I get all that. But what I'm wondering is, if you're in a pool, where you are close to weightless and have all the low impact resistance, why not just walk in the pool? Or perform slow motion footwork drills in the pool. Or balance exercises. Or slow kicks. Or just about any exercise that's appropriate for the goal? I don't understand the advantages of confining one's self to a treadmill where the range of movement options is very limited, in the zero impact almost weightless environment of the pool.

[singularity6]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the point of an underwater treadmill?

I can see the point of a conventional one. Although I'm not a fan. I can see that they can isolate the mechanics of walking and running from all other external factors.

But in a pool? The human body is already close to weightless in water. And the water will exclude most external factors while allowing a greater range of movement options than a treadmill.

In fact our local gym, like very many, runs all sorts of classes in the pool. Often aimed at those with mobility issues, they do aqua aerobics and all sorts in an environment where joint stress is kept to a minimum.

You get extra resistance in the water. Your arms and legs have to push the water out of the way vs the air.

They’re quite useful in the rehab setting. Take someone with ACL reconstruction; they’ll be able to run on an underwater treadmill before they’ll be able to run normally because the bouyancy in water counters the pull of gravity, thereby significantly reducing the impact on the knee. Same for a lot of injuries.

For general working out without an injury that benefits from it, I have no idea why.

Edit: I guess it would be cooler than running outside in the summer.

I get all that. But what I'm wondering is, if you're in a pool, where you are close to weightless and have all the low impact resistance, why not just walk in the pool? Or perform slow motion footwork drills in the pool. Or balance exercises. Or slow kicks. Or just about any exercise that's appropriate for the goal? I don't understand the advantages of confining one's self to a treadmill where the range of movement options is very limited, in the zero impact almost weightless environment of the pool.

A number of factors go into the need/desire for various exercise tools.

Treadmills exist despite us having plenty of sidewalks and trails outside. It takes up a lot less space to have a tank with a treadmill in a PT facility. Have you ever been to a public pool? It's frequently hard to use without someone else being in your way.

[OneKickWonder]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the point of an underwater treadmill?

I can see the point of a conventional one. Although I'm not a fan. I can see that they can isolate the mechanics of walking and running from all other external factors.

But in a pool? The human body is already close to weightless in water. And the water will exclude most external factors while allowing a greater range of movement options than a treadmill.

In fact our local gym, like very many, runs all sorts of classes in the pool. Often aimed at those with mobility issues, they do aqua aerobics and all sorts in an environment where joint stress is kept to a minimum.

You get extra resistance in the water. Your arms and legs have to push the water out of the way vs the air.

They’re quite useful in the rehab setting. Take someone with ACL reconstruction; they’ll be able to run on an underwater treadmill before they’ll be able to run normally because the bouyancy in water counters the pull of gravity, thereby significantly reducing the impact on the knee. Same for a lot of injuries.

For general working out without an injury that benefits from it, I have no idea why.

Edit: I guess it would be cooler than running outside in the summer.

I get all that. But what I'm wondering is, if you're in a pool, where you are close to weightless and have all the low impact resistance, why not just walk in the pool? Or perform slow motion footwork drills in the pool. Or balance exercises. Or slow kicks. Or just about any exercise that's appropriate for the goal? I don't understand the advantages of confining one's self to a treadmill where the range of movement options is very limited, in the zero impact almost weightless environment of the pool.

A number of factors go into the need/desire for various exercise tools.

Treadmills exist despite us having plenty of sidewalks and trails outside. It takes up a lot less space to have a tank with a treadmill in a PT facility. Have you ever been to a public pool? It's frequently hard to use without someone else being in your way.

Ah I see. I get it now.

I was thinking you had the luxury of having access to a regular swimming pool for private use, as some gyms do. I totally hadn't thought of a tank with a treadmill in it. That makes much more sense.